Former Milford state rep comments on O'Brien verdict

Friday

Jul 25, 2014 at 12:01 AMJul 25, 2014 at 9:35 AM

By Bill ShanerDaily News Staff

BOSTON – A former state representative from Milford who was listed as a potential witness in the trial of former Probation Commissioner John O'Brien but was never called, said Thursday after O'Brien was convicted of racketeering and mail fraud that changes should be in order."The system is wide open and needs to be put on a regimen," Democrat Marie Parente said. "You don't hear anything like this in civil service."Parente said a civil service exam-based system would be a good alternative to relying solely on referals and recommendations."The current system invites this kind of practice, there are no parameters," she said. "It's sad, but if what they say is true (of O'Brien) maybe this can go toward correcting the system in the future."O’Brien was convicted in federal court following a two-month trial and a week of jury deliberations. The case focused on charges that O’Brien and his deputies rigged the department's hiring process to favor politically-connected applicants over those who were more qualified.Also convicted were O'Brien's former deputies Elizabeth Tavares and William Burke. Tavares was convicted of racketereing and mail fraud and Burke of racketeering conspiracy. Burke was acquitted of mail fraud.Federal prosecutors said the defendants created a "sham" system to make it appear candidates were being hired for jobs in the probation department on merit, when in fact they were getting jobs because they had been sponsored by powerful lawmakers.Parente was first elected state representative in 1982 and held office until 2006.In 2005, she was involved in a probe of the state probation office’s hiring practices at Milford District Court. That case involved a dispute between Karen Jackson and Amy Pighetti, who applied for the same probation officer position. Pighetti, who is Parente's grandneice by marriage and whose name was Parente at the time, was appointed to the job. Jackson, who had 17 years experience at Milford District Court in a number of positions, filed a grievance claiming the job should have been hers on the basis of seniority. Pighetti had nine years of experience at Worcester District Court.Parente recommended Pighetti for the job.However, Parente said her relationship to Pighetti is four degrees removed and her recommendation came based on her nine years experience with the court system."Her misfortune was to share a common name for a short period of time," Parente said last week before the jury reached a verdict in the O'Brien case.Parente also said that prior to providing a recommendaiton for Pighetti, she had recommended Jackson six times for court-related jobs."Karen had no compunction to destroy someone’s reputation when Karen had enjoyed the same favor for years," Parente said.Jackson declined to comment on the O'Brien verdict, saying she needed more time and information to form an opinion.Pighetti could not be reached for commentAlong with Parente, Jackson and Pighetti were listed as possible witnesses in the O’Brien trial but never called.U.S. District Court Judge William Young told jurors at the onset of the trial that patronage - which he defined as getting a job because of who you know, rather than what you know - itself is not a crime.Parente said that in her 35 years of public office, she has recommended many people for jobs at Milford District Court."As the judge said, patronage is not a crime. If it was, half of Milford would be wiped out," Parente said.Information from the Associated Press was used in this story. Bill Shaner can be reached at 508-634-7582 or at wshaner@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @Bshaner_MDN.